All posts by Jackie Elwin

Autumn is approaching…

03/09/2018ferns, flowers, plantsJackie Elwin

and things are gradually slowing down in the garden. When I first started the stumpery area, I filled in a lot of spaces with ferns (soft shield ferns I think) with the intention of replacing some of them later with different plants. Some of these ferns are huge now and are really outgrowing the space or hiding other plants, and not just in the stumpery. So, at the weekend, my husband dug out one of them from beside the ramp and replaced it with Persicaria amplex Blackfield – I love the colour of the flowers. I just hope it isn’t going to become a thug. I have another 5 or 6 of the same ferns so I will ask hubby to divide a couple of them so at least they will be smaller, and completely dig up the rest so I can buy some new plants for the spaces. He also dug out the Rosa rugosa which has been a big disappointment. It has been there for 3 years and only produced 3 roses! All the rest of the growth has been hight and suckers. I would really like another rose there but it is just too shady, unless I can persuade our next lot of neighbours to chop down their rather large shrubs and trees. I have acquired a bench to put in the dry shady area at the back of the garden but as not a lot will grow in deep dry shade so I will have to think about what else to put around the bench. The corner wall is in need of repair but again I will have to wait and speak to our new neighbours. The trouble with that is that the actual owners are planning on splitting that house and garden into two, but they haven’t actually started any work yet so I may have a heck of a long wait for that work to be done and the house sold.

At the Annual flower show last weekend my little Davallia canariensis Hare’s foot fern) won an award! Not only did it win first prize for the foliage plant section, but it got the Jones trophy for best exhibit in pot pants too. Dead chuffed. I am so glad I scrubbed the pot the night before and took off the not-quite-so-attractive fronds.

Ramp with overgrown fern to the right.

Ramp now with Persicaria amplex Blackfield

Davallia canariensis and Jones trophy

Duddingston Garden club Annual Flower Show …

24/08/2018flowers, plantsJackie Elwin

getting some plants ready to sell at the annual flower show. There are: tiarellas, chives, rosemary, lavender, ferns, fuschias, grasses, sempervivums and a couple of unknown things that just popped up in the garden. The weather isn’t looking that great though and some ninja showers on the way so it might put people off coming. Shame we had to get rid of the greenhouse due to the neighbours high trees and the golf course trees as I am having to do all my propagation in the conservatory and on the garden table. I keep having to move them to under the table outside when the heavy rains are due and bring them back out again once they have passed. I was going to put a couple of plants in the show myself but my Streptocarpus saxorum only has 3 flowers on it and my roses are either just gone over or just not quite open enough. I may put my little Hare’s foot fern into the foliage section.

Plants ready for the sale.

A few wee snippets…

11/08/2018UncategorizedJackie Elwin

I read somewhere that wasps feed on nectar and take insects back to the nest to feed the larvae as the larvae need protein. I sat watching a wasp in the conservatory pulling wings from a hover fly (and the head too I think) then rolled it up into a neat package and flew off with it. This year there have been a lot of wasps around the pond and the bird bath to drink and I have had to save quite a few after they have fallen in. I did put a stone in the birdbath and that helped a bit , but when they land on the duck weed in the pond it sometimes doesn’t support them, and they don’t appear to be able to fly away from the surface tension of the water. I also read somewhere that if you want to keep them away when you are eating al fresco, they don’t like peppermint oil so keep some handy. They might only after something sweet so maybe just leave a saucer of jam out just for them away from where you are sitting. Or they might be after the ham inside your sandwich to take to feed their larvae. I have watched them cut a small bit from my salad.
I spotted some brown spider’s webs in amongst the ferns. All those spores falling on them make them look really tatty and dusty even with some of the nija showers we have been getting.
I also spotted a mushroom on a log at the back of the stumpery. Someone else has spotted it too and had a nibble. I have no idea what type it is and it looks a different colour when the sun shines on it. Brown on the top in the sunshine, but a dark grey when the clouds come over.
We have had a few showers lately, which the garden and the pond desperately needed so things are looking a little fresher and less arid now.

wasp with hover fly

spore covered cobwebs

in the sun

in the shade

Cyclamen are stirring…

05/08/2018flowers, plantsJackie Elwin

into life already. Most of my garden cyclamen are flowering already and it is only the beginning of August. I can’t find any of my white ones but only the pink ones in flower. In the conservatory the small tubers are flowering but my huge ancient tuber is still totally dormant. I have potted it on and the soil was quite damp so I am hoping it is ok. As promised in January I measured the tuber and it is roughly 12.5cm at it’s widest and 10.5cm at it’s narrowest and it old and craggy looking. I plant it quite proud of the soil level with a moat around it so it doesn’t get water on the top. I bought some small ones last year they looked like a really dark burgundy colour, but this year they have come out red. Still attractive though.

Cyclamen seed pods

Cyclamen neapolitanum ?

indoor cyclamen tuber

Cycalmen that was meant to be dark burgundy.

It’s all fairly quiet here…

28/07/2018birds, squirrel, wildlifeJackie Elwin

just waiting for some rain that was promised. I thought we were going to get thunder storms and lots of rain so I brought in all the small pots of cuttings for the next charity sale, hid some others under the bench where they wouldn’t get water-logged, and put a large trug under the garden table (under the hole where the parasol should go) to collect lots of rain water to help top up the pond. Sadly, we only had a short shower so just collected a dribble of water. The back area of the garden under the golf course trees is still like sand! Back to blue skies and that horrid muggy feeling. Just sitting, watching the world go by just now and planning what needs to be tackled next in the garden. Doing a bit of dead-heading, cutting back, and getting a few weeds out today. There are some young squirrels about who are making little holes everywhere, and young crows making a heck of a racket waiting to be fed by mum. This photo shows a young squirrel in amongst a pot plant, a crow collecting seed on the small tray feeder, and a young pigeon waiting for it’s turn on the feeder.

Squirrel, crow and pigeon.

I need more of…

17/07/2018plantsJackie Elwin

these Verbascums. I was promised (years ago now) that the the plants I bought would flower at the same time: Cirsium rivulare Atropurpureum, Papaverorientale ‘Patty’s plum’ and Verbascum chaxii album. But in fact, in my garden, the Cirsium come up first and flower for a good while, then the poppies and now the Verbascum. The poppies are over and have been chopped back as they were straggly and the Cirsium are going over and have only a few flowers left. The Verbascum is now looking a bit lonely. This year I will take root cuttings and hopefully get a few more and make a good clump. The Verbascum ‘Raspberry ripple’ is flowering a bit strangely this year. In previous years, the flowers at the base opened first the the gradually the others would open from base to the top. This year some are open at the base, some open half way up and some at the top. I do have a space to fill beside them so I would like to take root cuttings of these ones too.
We have had a couple of visitors at the base of the red rose Erotica under the bird feeder: brown rats. At first I saw a large rat on the tray feeder but now I have seen two young ones, bold as brass, getting the fallen seed and running behind the pond. I don’t need more of them!

Verbascum chaxii album

Verbascum Raspberry ripple 2010

Verbascum Raspberry ripple close-up

Verbascum Raspberry ripple 2018

young rat

The new bread bath…

12/07/2018birdbathJackie Elwin

apparently it isn’t a bird bath any more! I haven’t seen any birds bathing in it these day as the pond has a nice shelf for them to use instead. They do still drink at it, but nowadays the crows bring along their food and dump it in the water to soften it. I have to clean it out 2 or 3 times a day and more if the pigeons poop in it! Normally they bring sliced bread or rolls but I have also seen noodles, left over chicken drumsticks, unidentifiable things with traces of blood. And once the birdbath was black because they had dumped a whole slice of burnt toast in it! I only ever put seeds and peanuts out for the birds, because leftover food attracts vermin, so they are getting it from neighbours or further afield. Yesterday a parent crow took lots of seed from the bird table then took a drink from the water bowl with his beak full, then fed a youngster with it. Once, a crow brought down a large roll and dropped it in the birdbath, saw me watching and got a fright so flew onto the garage roof. By the time he turned around a magpie had swooped in and stolen his soggy roll. He looked down in disbelief that it had vanished in a mater of seconds. The roll was so soggy that half of it fell all over a plant on the patio. The big birds, such as the crows, magpies and jackdaws, like to bathe in the dog’s water bowl instead of the birdbath as it is deeper. The pigeons now bathe in the pond and leave grey scum on the surface.

Birdbath with a sliced bread in it.

Birdbath with a roll in it.

Splashes of white…

07/07/2018flowers, plantsJackie Elwin

to add highlights in the garden. At the moment there are a few white plants in flower just now like the Astrantia that I was given by a friend but I don’t know the variety. (it might be major) I love the subtle pink centers that go really well with the backdrop of the purple Cotinus foliage. The Camassia leithtlinii white has just gone over so I have tidied away their messy leaves. The Serastium tomentosum (snow in summer) has beautiful silver foliage along with very pretty white flowers and the rose Munsteadwood looks great above it. The only trouble with that combo is that the dark purple petals fall over the silver folliage and look very messy. The Philadelphus is looking ok but the image here was taken a few years ago when I let it grow however it wanted to, but nowadays I keep it cut back a little. The perfume is fabulous. The delicate Campanula rotundifolia (harebells) come up usually in blue , but now and again a white one pops up. I just leave them there as they look quite natural. I can’t believe that my pale blue Aquilegia is still in flower. I might buy a few more white plants to brighten the very green garden up and maybe a few pale yellows too. Actually, the Primula sikkimensis (Himalayan cowslip) is looking great just now so I can divide them later on in the year. I did get out during week to buy a few Gillenia trifoliata (bowmans root) plants which have nice, delicate white starry flowers on reddish stems, which will go well with the red Astilbe , and the red rose (whenever it decides to flower). We still have very hot and dry weather with no sign of rain in the next week or so. We are not used to this in Scotland – normally we have a couple of nice days followed by a few days of wind and rain. On the plus side two months of no rain mains we have enjoyed the roses without the petals turning to mush or drying out like paper mache so that they can’t open. Also the slugs don’t like it dry. On the down side I have had an awful lot of watering to do and the dreaded mildew has appeared on many plants. I can’t sit outside and enjoy the garden as it is just too hot for me so I wait until the shade comes. My dog loves to lie in the sunshine but I have to keep him inside mostly as he would overheat very quickly. This heat also makes sleeping quite a trial. Doing a wee rain dance and wishing for slightly cooler weather.

Astrantia major

Astrantia and Cotinus

Philadelphus

Harebells

Gillenia trifoliata and Astilbe Fanal red

Camassia leichtlinii white

Serastium tomentosum and Munstead wood rose

Primula sikkimensis

Just smell those roses…

29/06/2018flowers, plants, rosesJackie Elwin

they all come out at slightly different times and they all have different perfumes too. My newest rose (bought this year) is Jubilee Celebration which has a very fruity almost grapefruit like fragrance so it is on the patio in a large pot so I can enjoy the scent whilst having a cuppa. Next to flower was Munstead Wood with it’s fabulous deep crimson flowers and gorgeous Old rose scent. Then came the climbing rose Zephirine Drouhin. It isn’t doing as well as it could because it really needs to be in full sun and I have planted it towards the back of the garden, which is plunged into shade in the afternoon courtesy of the golf course trees. I have made quite a few mistakes in the garden and that is just one of them. But it still flowers and I just need to give it more TLC than some of the others. It smells divine. William Lobb the moss rose is a lovely dark crimson when it first opens then it fades to a pale greyish violet. It also smells fab. They used to be tied up along wires between 3 tall posts but when we did away with the green house we also took out the posts. They can be a bit sprawly in habit but I am trying to keep them pruned into a more bush like form. That way it keeps the flowers where I can both see and smell them. I have a mini pink rambler in a large pot (along with the Parahebe) which scrambles up an old clothes post. It does quite well and I would like to train it along the fence too. I am not sure if I should have planted the Rosa Rugosa as it is just so unruly. It seams to just flower sporadically and they are all on the very top of the bush. Should I have gone for a dog rose instead? It is in the stumpery/woodland area which can get very shady too but I thought they could cope with almost any condition. I will feed it with rose or tomato feed as just see if that helps this year. At the back of the garden I have newly planted The Generous Gardener. It should be able to cope with some shade so I just hope it can make do with the few hours of sunshine it does get. The flowers are a very feminine, delicate pink and have a beautiful Old rose scent. I do hope I can nurture them enough to cover the arch. The last one to flower is Erotica ( or Eroica – I think that is what it is called – it never had a tag and I bought it over 20 years ago). It has deep red, highly scented flowers and is quite a tall upright bush. The foliage is quite purple/red during spring turning green later. It is always the last one to flower but then that might be due to the way I prune it. I will add a photograph when it finally decides to flower.

Jubilee Celebration

Munstead Wood

Zephirine Drouhin

William Lobb

Mini pink rambler

Rosa Rugosa

The Generous Gardener

And it finally flowers on the 10th July! Well worth waiting for as it is a colour, has a gorgeous scent and has nice long, upright stems so makes a great cut flower.

Erotica

Everywhere you look…

12/06/2018flowers, plants, seed-headsJackie Elwin

another plant is blooming – yeah! Today is lovely and warm in the sunshine but in a couple of days (just when the roses come out) we are due heavy rain. Just our luck, but we haven’t had much rain at all so the garden really needs it. But for now there are lots of plants enjoying this weather. The Honesty is a lovely bright purple, but the slugs are having a good go at them. The chives are looking lovely. My Parahebe Porlock is a great do-er and is in a pot alongside a little pink rambling rose. I just trim it back every year and it keeps coming back. I wish I had planted my Syringa in front of the Viburnum in the raised bed so that I could see the whole shrub as it is covered in scented flowers but the Viburnum is blocking the view – hey ho. The Thyme in the raised looks great under the purple Acer and next to the Saxifraga umbrosa. I do have a few Geraniums (forgotten the name of a few) which have started to flowers now, including the wild ones. The blue one is looking a bit flat. The tiny Geranium dissectum looks cute with it’s tiny flowers and hairy stems but I bet it will be a thug if I leave it to seed, so, I keep taking the seed heads off. The same goes for the herb-robert (Geranium robertianum). The Hebe is covered in tiny pink flowers and the bees adore these. The ragged robin is looking, well, ragged but pretty. The Pasque flower has gone over and I didn’t get a chance to photograph it this year but the seed heads are very pretty.